Diamond

This little gem set up high in the mountains away from everything yet in a location that is driving distance from the old town, Elephant Rock and Hegra. We drove early one morning to do the balloon flight which is well worth the early wake up call! Our host couldn’t be more accommodating. We were given a clean, more than adequate size accommodation for us as a family of four. Towels, wash accessories, tea, coffee and date supply. I mentioned that he needs to have a hairdryer on the Friday morning and when we returned Friday night one was waiting on the doorstep! The children went down to the cows and we were given fresh milk that morning! I will 100% recommend this find to my colleagues at Neom!

If you have the money and want a one-off experience in AlUla then there are two or three swanky resorts you can try in the area like Habitas. But if you are on a budget and don’t fancy camping or hiring a private apartment (the quality of which can be hard to determine) there isnt much choice. So the Diamond is a good find. It’s situated on the AlUla-Hail road (Route 70), about 5 minutes from Elephant Rock and about 15 minutes from Winter Park, which is the base for trips to Hegra and Jabal Ikmah. You need a car, obviously. The hotel is down a track and set amongst farms. It is small - I would guess no more than 10-12 rooms - and no frills. But the communications before arriving were excellent, it’s clean, air conditioned, and rooms come with en-suite shower. So if you plan to be out all day and just need a comfortable base it’s ideal. We paid around £60 per night. My only negative comment is that it was a bit noisy - one guest decided to have a conversation on his phone in the corridor and I could hear it pretty clearly.